January 17th, 2013 issue #1203

There's a running joke here in the newsroom about using "fresh ingredients" in our stories, taken from the often-used phrase in restaurant promotions, which is basically code for meaningless filler. In Charlottesville, however, when we say that restaurants use fresh ingredients, that's a legitimate use of the phrase. Why? Well, I remember talking with former Boar's Head chef Doug Knopp back in 2006, as he berated corporate chicken plants that use steroids and extolled the virtues of local organic farmers like Joel Salatin (pictured) of Polyface Farm near Staunton.